Efficient packet aggregation using dynamic wait time

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices are described for determining when to aggregate packets (e.g., transmit an aggregated packet) at a protocol layer based on an indication of whether more packets are available for transfer from a higher layer. In aspects, the protocol layer may receive an indication from the higher layer of whether additional packets are present in a second packet queue of the higher layer for transfer to the protocol layer. Based on the received indication, the protocol layer may determine when to aggregate the packets in the protocol layer queue into an aggregated packet (e.g., whether to transmit the aggregated packet upon receipt of the indication, etc.). Determining when to aggregate packets in the protocol layer based on the indication may override conventional packet aggregation conditions such as an aggregation wait time, an aggregation window size (minimum or maximum), and the like.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for packet aggregation in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:
 aggregating, in a first packet queue of a protocol layer, at least one packet into an aggregated packet, the at least one packet received from a higher layer for transmission over a medium;   receiving, at the protocol layer, an indication from the higher layer of whether at least one additional packet is present in a second packet queue of the higher layer for transfer to the protocol layer; and   determining when to transmit an aggregated packet comprising the at least one packet received from the higher layer based at least in part on the indication.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving the at least one packet from the higher layer, wherein the indication is included in the at least one received packet.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the indication included in the at least one packet comprises a flag in a packet header of the at least one received packet. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving the indication comprises:
 receiving information indicating a number of packets of the at least one additional packet in the second packet queue of the higher layer.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the information indicating the number of packets of the at least one additional packet comprises an indication of whether the number of packets is greater than a threshold. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining the indication, by the higher layer, based at least in part on a pattern of packets received at the second packet queue.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining when to transmit an aggregated packet comprises:
 overriding at least one packet aggregation condition based at least in part on the indication comprising an indication that no additional packets are present in the second packet queue of the higher layer for transfer to the protocol layer.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the at least one packet aggregation condition comprises at least one of an aggregation wait time and an aggregation window size. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 transmitting the aggregated packet to a destination device over a wireless local area network (WLAN) radio channel.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the higher layer comprises a medium access control (MAC) layer, and the protocol layer comprises a physical (PHY) layer. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the higher layer comprises one of a group consisting of an application layer, a user datagram protocol (UDP) layer, and a transmission control protocol (TCP) layer, and the protocol layer comprises one of a MAC layer or a PHY layer. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the higher layer and the protocol layer are part of a device comprising one of a group consisting of a base station and a mobile device. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one packet comprises at least one medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (MPDU), and the aggregated packet comprises an aggregated MPDU (AMPDU) for transmission over a wireless local area network (WLAN). 
     
     
         14 . A wireless communication device, comprising:
 a protocol layer comprising:
 a protocol interface to receive at least one packet from a higher layer for transmission over a medium, the at least one packet including an indication from the higher layer indicating whether at least one additional packet is present in a second packet queue of the higher layer for transfer to the protocol layer; 
 a packet aggregation queue, in communication with the protocol interface, to aggregate the at least one received packet into an aggregated packet; and 
 a packet aggregation manager, in communication with the protocol interface and the packet aggregation queue, to determine when to instruct the packet aggregation queue to aggregate the at least one packet received from the higher layer based at least in part on the indication. 
   
     
     
         15 . The device of  claim 14 , wherein the protocol layer comprises one of a MAC layer and a PHY layer. 
     
     
         16 . The device of  claim 14 , wherein the indication comprises:
 information associated with a number of packets of the at least one additional packet in the second packet queue of the higher layer.   
     
     
         17 . The device of  claim 14 , wherein the indication is set by the higher layer based at least in part on a pattern of packets received at the second packet queue. 
     
     
         18 . The device of  claim 14 , wherein determining when to instruct the packet aggregation queue to aggregate the at least one packet comprises:
 overriding at least one packet aggregation condition based at least in part on the indication comprising an indication that no additional packets are present in the second packet queue of the higher layer for transfer to the protocol layer.   
     
     
         19 . The device of  claim 18 , wherein the at least one packet aggregation condition comprises at least one of an aggregation wait time and an aggregation window size. 
     
     
         20 . A computer program product operable on a wireless communication device, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for:
 aggregating, in a first packet queue of a protocol layer, at least one packet into an aggregated packet, the at least one packet received from a higher layer for transmission over a medium;   receiving, at the protocol layer, an indication from the higher layer of whether at least one additional packet is present in a second packet queue of the higher layer for transfer to the protocol layer; and   determining when to transmit an aggregated packet comprising the at least one packet received from the higher layer based at least in part on the indication.